Salt and Sanctuary Releasing Exclusively on PS4 & PS Vita in 2015

August 28, 2014
Written by Jason Dunning

Developed by Ska Studios (The Dishwasher Series, Charlie Murder, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1), Salt and Sanctuary is a “stylistic, brutal action RPG platformer that’s teeming with visceral, satisfying combat, deep, diverse character builds, and some of the most incredible bosses we’ve ever made.” And thanks to the support shown by Sony, Salt and Sanctuary “will be launching exclusively on PS4 and PS Vita” in 2015.

Playing as a sailor shipwrecked on a strange island, Salt and Sanctuary was detailed by James Silva of Ska Studios:

If you’re familiar with some of our earlier games like The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile and Charlie Murder, you should know what to expect: solidly executed, intricate and brutal combat, lovingly hand-drawn and animated 2D art (of the non-pixel variety), a killer in-house soundtrack, and a massive roster of set-defining, dynamic and unique bosses. Salt is inspired as much by our history as a studio as it is by old classics like Castlevania DS, and new classics like the Souls series.

Like in The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile, the emphasis in Salt and Sanctuary is stylistic sidescrolling combat: weapons have movesets, air attacks have hang time, and rolling is king. There’s a huge amount of depth to the combat in Salt, however. Weapons can be one-handed and paired with shields or offhand crossbows for versatility, or wielded two-handed for added power — and every configuration has its own unique moveset. There are staffs for magic, bows for ranged combat, and belt-slotted consumables like throwing daggers and weapon-buffing Pitchfire. Of course, loadout weight affects your movement, rolling speed and stamina regen, so a good balance of defense and agility is key. Basically, it combines two things we love: fast, precise 2D combat and super strategic RPG depth. Also, there are curb stomps.

When more details about Salt and Sanctuary are revealed, we’ll let you know.